


That Men Do (On Hiatus)

by MorbidRobin



Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace Lives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because real life is full of enough tragedies as it is, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Nakamaship, Romance, There will be a happy ending, There will be fluff, Young ASL
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-09-17 08:07:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9312899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorbidRobin/pseuds/MorbidRobin
Summary: Whoever said that the evil that men do lives after them, forgot to add that it also lives after their children.ORJust another ASL getting kidnapped by slavers and getting rescued by Whitebeard and how they  deal with Ace's self worth issues, Sabo's fake smiles and Luffy...Just being Luffy.(currently on hiatus due to writer's block.)





	1. This was supposed to be the prologue

A hundred days...

The tally mark said. Ace had been scraping on the wall day by day with blood stained nails and dirt caked hands.

Anything to keep him from going insane. 

His hair which is now long and overgrown covers his bloodshot eyes and hollow cheeks.

He looks at Luffy, with the little light that comes from outside. The Raven had not woken up for days, only tiny labored breaths were the proof he was still alive.

And the only reason Ace held on.

Whoever said that the evil that men do lives after them, forgot to add that it also lives after their children.

He looks at Sabo, who he had to knock out cold for Sabo suggested the unthinkable -

_Let them take me._

If Ace lets them have their way with Sabo, it's easier. The pain is less, the pain is bliss.

Pain is bliss. Pain is bliss. Forced to chant again and again as whips are felt across the back, tears flow as well as sweat and blood and... semen.

Then dolled up and presented like property, a trophy to boast about by people who inhale their own oxygen, disgusted by the idea of breathing the same air as commoners.

And Ace knew and he fought, never gave in, never gave up, never gave out as did Sabo, as did Luffy. 

But rubber can only stretch so far. 

With sunken cheeks, hollow eyes, Luffy's body had had enough and shut down to save itself.

They were only fed the amount needed to be kept alive. 

After Luffy's collapse, it was increased a tad bit to keep them awake.

And now, Ace's holds a death grip on the bars as he knows, he knows that his last Ray of hope is gone.

They, THEY! Intend to see if a person in coma can feel pain. They wonder how good the screams and agony will sound. 

The sound of hopelessness and despair.

A sweet music to their ears.

Sweet, sweet music.


	2. This was supposed to be the beginning.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So a mysterious man appears. This chapter might be a bit dark and may contain grey morality. Reader discretion is advised

Ace was woken up by a sound.  
A body was dragged into their cell. He paid it no mind as most don't last any way.

The body belongs to a man with a pompadour hair who reeks of alcohol.

Drugged it is then.

Compared to he and his brothers who fought, bit and held on to the floor of their treehouse even as they were carried away by their captors who stepped on lifeless bodies of bandits.

Ace vehemently shakes his head in an effort to not cry. Tears don't do anything, don't save anyone. There are always other people worse off than he would ever be. 

His emotions are insignificant. His thoughts are useless. He has no purpose. Because he existed, so many people died, so many suffered.

Not a day passes, that he wishes he had never been born. 

His thoughts are interrupted by a groan.

It appears the man has woken up and for whatever reason, the guards have a score to settle with him.

As well as They. They have forgotten about their unconscious toy and now wish to have this man.

It appears that he's also going to suffer for his father's crimes.

The name Whitebeard does not ring a bell to Ace.

For he's so relieved for this small mercy. Luffy's dignity would, at least for today,remain.

Ace clutches his chest as the now awake and aware man is dragged away. His conscience screams against the inhumanity of it all but all Ace hears is his own fear, his own primal instinct to look out for number one.

_Take anyone but Luffy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment! Let me know what you think? Not dark enough? Bad writing? Needs more fluff?
> 
> I know I am begging for reviews but I need some progress that someone, beside me is enjoying this!
> 
> A comment is very very much appreciated!


	3. Thatch POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, this will clear some things up. I know the first two chapters have been very vague.

Thatch woke up groggily. He's head hurt and his muscles refused to move. The world spun about him. 

His body ached as though it had been thrown across the cold hard floor. For it was.

In all...

He had no idea where he was.

All he knew was that it's cold and dark and reeked of rotting wood, smelled like dried blood and urine. There are, his haki says, three children. One is awake, the two asleep, (but unknown to him that one of them actually in coma.)

And that he's being forcefully dragged away but his body cannot and could not move.

It couldn't even struggle against seastone cuffs.

His senses high alert, his memories return.

A bar. 

A free drink.

No memories of what happened afterwards.

It was only a matter of time before Thatch's too trusting nature would come back to bite him.

Marco had warned him so many a time.

"You have a devil fruit now. Try to be more careful now."

Thatch had always thought that seastone drugged drinks were a myth.

Until now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme know what you think. Please review! Comment! Lemme know there's someone out there reading this!


	4. Thatch POV contdEm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This should clear up everything.

Thatch was used to this. He had been chained to the wall by his hands and feet. The guards had quickly become bored of him.

The guards would 'play' with him decorating his body with new marks everyday. 

With new scars. Oh, how he wished that it came from a good battle with a worthy opponent, not from adults who never grew up, not from animals that preyed on other people's fears.

Like that he saw in the eyes of a blond child and a freckled raven as a sleeping child was carried away by the guards to a fat man, who currently sat on a human being; with a Cheshire smile that will hunt nightmares.

At least now Thatch knew that he and the kids were a "trophy gift" in the dungeons of a private island. It won't be the first time.

"LUFFY!" The children cry out. Fear, despair and hopelessness stain their faces, grows in their eyes, their hearts, their minds. 

The blood of Thatch boiled.

These 'dragons' are the personification of evil itself.

How far will They go for Their own entertainment?   
How far must They sail across the sea of immorality to suit Their desires?

How many bodies must They step on to fill their greed?

When will it be enough? Will it ever be enough? How muted must Their conscience be?

Or does it not exist at all?

Does it not exist at all?

"You know, there's a law in nature," A voice Thatch realizes to be his says. "What goes up... Must go down. You Celestial bastards are living on borrowed time." He says in between ragged breaths. 

And even as his body is being beaten to shreds, he feels the look of gratitude from the children, and thinks to himself,

"It's going to be alright."

The human chair of the Celestial breathes her last breath and falls.

At least in the grave, she finally hath found peace after a life of suffering.

No amount of whips to her body will return her soul. 

Ney, for she has left this world.

She had left the world. She will not be missed for there's no one to mourn at her grave.

And her body is tossed aside like a dirty rag, a broken toy and another one is taken. 

A comatose child no less. 

And the freckled kid's haki _roars_.

And even the sound of earthquake, afterwards, pales in comparison.


	5. Tremors and Blue Fire

Ace's POV

Ace feels a surge of power. All around him, everyone falls except for the man with pompadour hair.

Sabo calls him the first man who's lasted longer than two weeks in this place. 

The tally marks never lie.

So, maybe it's the earthquake or the smile that's now evident on the man's face that makes Ace let it go and darkness to consume him. 

 

Thatch's POV

 

Thatch is still in shock. His mind has failed to register the tremors he feels beneath his feet. The freckled kid has Conqueror's Haki? 

He looks at the freckled kid who is some meters away from him, surrounded by a pile of unconscious bodies. 

And all that is in that child's eyes is fear and self loathing. 

Thatch gives a reassuring smile to make the boy understand...

It's alright now.

Fate must smile upon them today because the child relaxes and let the darkness take him.

It's alright now.

Subconsciously, Thatch knows this because the tremors that shake the ground screams of protection, of safety, of solidarity, of home, of a tall giant father.

He thinks his ears deceive him for he hears a loud sound and walls cracking and tumbling. His eyes disagree because all he sees is a tuft of blond hair, a Phoenix fire.

What is even real anymore?

He decides that if his eyes wishes to play, he might as well give into the this hallucination.

"It's about time, Blue Turkey. What took you so long?" He says.

Marco doesn't rise to the bait. His eyes are furrowed in worry and concern as he looks at his brother.

"Go to sleep, yoi." He says instead as he unlocks the seastone cuffs.

The pompadour haired man realizes that this is not an illusion as he feels his powers returning and watery liquid spilling out his eyes, rolling down his cheeks.

"Don't let Izou see me like this..." He finds himself saying.

 _"Thatch."_ He finds himself in a tight hug.

"The kids..."

"I know, Thatch, I know."

"It's alright now."

 

Marco's POV

They were finally here.

As the Moby Dick neared the island, Marco realized that   
this private island owned the by one celestial was big enough to be its own country.

It had taken two weeks to find any useful intel on the whereabouts of Thatch. Everyone was tense and jumpy. So when an anonymous tip can come across Marco's ears, he took it greedily and changed the course of Moby Dick. 

Plans were made and people were divided into groups based on their fighting skills. Izou was in charge of Thatch's division and his own division, to make sure that they didn't do anything stupid. 

The commanders were so itching for a fight, engrossed in their desire for revenge, so no one noticed that Marco was on a one-man mission. 

He had to bring Thatch back.

He was the one who left him in that bar alone.

He was the reason why Thatch was locked down in some dungeon.

And he was the reason Thatch may be no longer alive.

~ 

Everywhere was dark in the Celestial's house, dimly lit by torches on the walls of the unending stairwell. It was almost as though everyone was preparing for a some kind of religious ceremony. 

Marco simply let his haki and a guard he held hostage, guide him through darkness that could never been cleaned.

But tired, frantic and anxious as the impossible stairs never seemed to end, he transforms into his Phoenix form and dives into the eye of the stairs. 

And into hell he descended.

~

He was in a large underground stadium. A gladiator stadium to be exact. 

He stood in the centre of the arena and looked at the massacre, the lifeless bodies of the 'dragons' all around him. 

Marco cleansed his bloodied hands on the lifeless body of a celestial. Why there were so many gathered here, he didn't not know. 

No, how he wished he heard not what excites Them so. Their newest collection. 

Rubber.

Toy.

Human. Unconscious.

A child of the revolutionary.

Their dead voices hissed like snakes around his ears. 

Shaking off his demons, he continues walking, opens cages and frees slaves while furiously looking for Thatch with his haki. 

Thatch's aura is getting stronger and stronger till there's only a wall between between.

With a haki infused kick, a hole is made in the wall. The first person he sees is Thatch.

Then the children.

And Marco's heart breaks.


	6. Chapter 6

There was silence as Thatch's bruised and bleeding body was brought to the Moby Dick's infirmary. Izou, Fossa and Vista carried the three children who were in a far worse state. Everyone knew that the erratic weather on the sea was the last thing that they needed.

It took them many log poses, but they eventually got to Drum Island. Whitebeard disposed of the despotic ruler, Wapol and got the children and Thatch the proper medical attention they needed. Both mentally and physically.

Thatch was being an ass about it. He insisted he was fine but he refused to get treatment or a checkup. (Marco couldn't fault him really. The last time he was injured this badly was when Blackbeard had stabbed him and escaped. Izou was the one to find his body at that time.) 

The doctors at Drum, run by Dr Kureha, were appalled at the amount of injuries the children sustained and set to work immediately.

Luffy (as well as Ace and Sabo) was put on an IV which contained necessary nutrients. From what Marco told them, they deduced that Luffy's devil fruit was rubber. It also explained why he had no scars.

Or a slave brand. For it to scar, it have to be literally made of magma.

So, the Whitebeards wondered what to do with the slave brand that was on Ace. The mark was on Ace's back while Sabo had none at all.

This puzzled everyone.

(What they wouldn't know is that Sabo's parents had a connection to the celestial dragon whom they regularly paid hefty tributes. The very same celestial who 'owned' the ASL trio as slaves. Sabo's parents wanted to teach him a lesson.)

Ojayi decided that they would let Ace recover and decide what to do next. The plan was for Ace to get Pops' mark when he is older.

As for Thatch, it was just an excuse to get a new tattoo he had been dying to get anyway. 

 

~

 

Despite the amount of injuries Luffy sustained, he was the first to wake up.

And the Whitebeard family would soon find that there was a whole lot more to these brats on board.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the late update. A note about plot progression: I intend to make a drabble collection, in the sense that we'll see bits of the story (in other words, it's not going to be a full-story fanfic but it's a story by bits and pieces of the characters' lives.) 
> 
> English is not my first language. Sorry for any mistakes and confusion


	7. Chapter 7

It's often said that a person's devil fruit is a representation of their character.

If it is sand, the person is cold, cruel and more on willing to step on anything or anyone in his path.

If it is smoke, the person has so much power but yet can barely influence his environment.

If gravity, it is a person who is grounded in something, whether it be high morals or justice. 

If fire, the person is likely to have a fiery temper, they're likely to be impulsive and brash. They also don't think before they act. 

If rubber, it means that a person can always bounce back from any difficulty. It also means that the person is resilient and refuses to give up. The person could also be unable to stay in one place for too long. 

They may also have bottomless pits for a stomach.

 

The Whitebeard family weren't prepared to meet the phenomenon known as Luffy.

~

The standard rule for feeding a starved child was simple. 

Feed them food in small quantities and gradually increase over them. Never, never overfeed them. 

But when you are literally made of rubber, rules can be bended till it breaks. 

¶

Doctor Kureha had one look at the raven child and she instantly ordered the Whitebeards to get a truckload of food enough to feed ten men. 

Luffy finished through all in ten seconds. The commanders and doctors, mostly especially a reindeer had their eyes bulging open. Marco was too dignified to do such. His jaw hit the floor instead. 

The young child's growling stomach simply requested for more.


	8. Somewhat still on hiatus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace's thoughts as he switchess between sleep and awakening. 
> 
> Warnings for dark thoughts. And poetic writing.

Fall like glasses like leaves, the sound still my voice and chains my knees. The mud I walk thickens, sight ever so blurring.

What madness am I in?

The stupidity of it all...

What madness am I in?

What madness am I in?

I long to speak by my voice is hoarse years of silence cut it short. I see the world and the world sees me.

Yet I look not. I look not.

The more you look the less you see. I have looked so long I cannot see. 

I have sat still so long I cannot move.

I have been chained so long, I cannot fly.

The line between imaginary and reality blurs every passing moment.

Am I here really? Where am I ? Where am I ?

Where am I 

Everything falls apart, the center doesn't hold. Nothing does.

Of what use is my presence? Or what use is my absence? 

Please

Save me from myself. 

Deliver me from this destruction.

Surely there must be a loophole in this maze.

Break me away from this tunnel in which I long to see the light.

I long to see the light.

The light that keeps you all going. That makes you fear death.

I long to see the light.

I wonder in the process of searching for light, did I create darkness instead?

In the process of searching for hope, hopelessness did I create? 

Happiness, despair?

Or just an effect of the drugs that affects my mind so?


End file.
